Tuesday, December 15, 2009

happy holidays

A final wrap up here on Shelved Books for 2009. And a big thank you. It's been a interesting experiment showing my design process. Thanks to all who have commented over the past year. Your feedback has been insightful and very kind. I hope to have more regular posting on my own shelved books as well as highlighting featured designers in the new Noted section beginning in 2010.

Shelved Books was a long time coming. It wasn't until I saw killed work popping up on designers websites and places like design:related, that I began to think it would be appropriate to share this process. My aim here hasn't been to only show the work I think is more beautiful, because as you've seen on this site, sometimes what's been left behind was done so for a very good reason....the final was just better. You might think that on a site dedicated to rejected covers I might be against the revision process, but contrary to all evidence, I actually think that the process works well on many books. Case in point, a recent cover I consider one of my favorites to date, was the product of a revision. Not just a tweak, but a complete rethink. I had to delve deeper into the subject matter and the final design was the better for it. I would add to that, there is no substitution for a good relationship with an art director. Good feedback and help during the process is what makes the best covers as well.

Below are pics of my recent holiday mailing. In an age where computers are a designers best friend, online community networks allow me to chat with design colleagues all over the map, and the end-of-print looms above us all...my ideas still begin in a sketchbook, and I hope it always remains that way.

happy holidays!
Kimberly


My nod to books: the side view of an open book in the zeros...





2 comments:

Ian Koviak said...

here here. Good art direction and editorial feedback can lead to some unexpected (good) turns in the evolution of a cover.

Thanks for the insights and happy holidays!

Oh! and lovely journals/skecthbooks!

christina said...

I have really enjoyed your blog not only for seeing your beautiful and thoughtful work, but also for your positive attitude about the process, which is too often talked about with a lot of negativity in our line of work. I look forward to new posts in the new year!

And if you have extra sketchbooks I'd love to make a designer trade with you!